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From: sjl@amdahl.UUCP (Steve Langdon)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac
Subject: Re: 1.5 Meg Upgrade from MacMemory
Message-ID: <2092@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 9-Oct-85 13:24:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: amdahl.2092
Posted: Wed Oct  9 13:24:00 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Oct-85 16:49:57 EDT
References: <501@ihwpt.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Amdahl Corp, Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 46

In <501@ihwpt.UUCP> David Fay (ihnp4!ihexp!dafa) writes:
> 
> 	Until yesterday I intended to upgrade my Mac to 2 Meg with a Levco
> kit. I could get a kit for about $450 from a local dealer. The memory
> chips would cost about $100 for a total investment of $550.
> ...
> 	There is one disadvantage also. Unlike Levco upgrades, The Max
> does not have its own ROM. So screen memory sits at the top of 512K.
> This means that you can use the extra memory for a 1 Meg RamDisk while
> programs have 512K to execute in. While this is not as desireable as
> the Levco solution, which relocates screen memory to the top of
> physical memory, MacMemory says the new Apple ROMs will do this.
> So when they come out, all 1.5 Megs will be continuous.
> ...
> 	But here is the clincher. Look at these prices for the kit:
> 	
> 			Quantity		Price
> 			   1			 $525
> 			  2-4			$367.50
> 		 	   5+			$341.25
> 		
> The Max is more than $200 cheaper than Levco and gives you a path
> to more memory if you need it.
> ...

I have had the Levco 2 Meg upgrade for over two months and I feel that
memory > 512K makes a significant improvement to the Mac.  I am happy
to see alternative sources of this type of upgrade.  However, there are
a couple of items in the original article that puzzle me.

The more important item is the statement that the new Apple ROMs will
relocate the screen buffer to the top of the 1.5 Meg address space.
As address decode is a hardware, rather than software, function I would
want a full and convincing explanation of this claim before I purchased
the MacMemory upgrade.

The second item that did not seem quite right was the claim of a $200
saving.  From the costs quoted this seemed to be true only if you bought
more than 1 kit.  Unless you own more than one Mac this seems rather
impractical.  If you have several Macs, you should also check Levco's
quantity prices to determine what the real saving is.
-- 
Stephen J. Langdon                  ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,hplabs,sun}!amdahl!sjl

[ The article above is not an official statement from any organization
  in the known universe. ]